Open invitation
June 14, 2009
The host, 26-year-old Christoph S., planned the party shortly after his girlfriend left him in January.
He used his account on a German social networking website to announce he wanted to drown his sorrows on the beach with about 100 online friends in June.
Christoph's call, however, went viral and as the months went by, some 13,500 people responded saying they planned to attend. Police on the resort island, which has a population about 20,000 and can only be reached by train, became nervous and called for reinforcements.
Local authorities say the first 500 partygoers showed up Saturday morning, with thousands more joining them in the afternoon.
Their plan was to celebrate through the night on Sylt's main beach. But a lack of music and problems restocking alcohol supplies left many guests disappointed.
Some 350 police officers worked through the night to control disgruntled revellers.
Police made 14 arrests and registered 30 criminal offences including assault and malicious property damage.
"We were particularly alarmed by the large number of heavily intoxicated participants, which meant there was a high potential for aggressive behaviour," police spokesperson Manfred Pöhls said.
The mayor of Sylt, Petra Reiber, said the cost of cleaning up the beach and the trains linking the island to the mainland would exceed 20,000 euros.
She said she planned to recover at least some of the money from the man who issued the online invitation.
sje/dpa/AP
Editor: Andreas Illmer